Scammer
General Description = As with any other game, Dofus has its share of scammers. These are people who cheat honest players through a variety of means. Losses can range from a few Kamas to one's whole account. This page explores the various types of scammers and the methods they use to Cheat other players. Disclaimer! This is not a Profession guide, but an honest look at the methods used by unscrupulous players to cheat decent ones, and how to avoid becoming the victim of such scams. Explanation = Generally, Dofus players are honest, pleasant and helpful. Indeed, one would be hard pressed to find an MMORPG with nicer people. However, this does not mean that there are no weeds among the roses. Every player needs to be aware of the methods by which bad people cheat trusting players out of their accumulated hard work, real money, and even their accounts. This is why the page has a rare 100% rating for Core Gameplay, because even those who have played the longest can be cheated, as the present author found out recently when a friend who has been playing the game since almost its inception was scammed through one of the methods outlined herein. All players are urged to be careful with their trust, and to exercise caution in every transaction, exchange, place of logging in, program installed, and site you visit. is . __TOC__ Scammer: A Definition Not everybody with whom you disagree is a scammer. There are many times, especially in the multilingual environment of Dofus, that misunderstandings occur with regards to selling prices and guild rights, among others. Some players expect that if they buy a large quantity of some Resource or several pieces of Equipment that they should receive a discount. That is just good Smithian economics. A scammer is somebody who actively seeks to alter a fully agreed transaction during the exchange process, trick a player into parting with an item without payment, gain account information so as to take control of it, or to get real money via acquisition of bank card information or through a bogus transaction. These are the bad people of whom all players must be wary, and, when found, reported to Ankama and placed on Watch Lists in the Discord channels of their Server, Alliance, and Guild. Such lists should include the Screen Name of the player cheated, what the scam was, when it happened, and the Screen Name and known Character Names of the scammer, as well as any screen shots or video the victim might have captured. Though victims seldom get back what they lost, this reporting method is the best way to ensure that your friends and allies do not suffer the same losses. Spoofer :A spoofer is a scammer who pretends to be another person. Whereas there truly are players who have similar Character Names and even Screen Names, a spoofer attempts to imitate another player, even to the point of making his/her names fit as closely as possible to a well-known individual, such as the leader of a large Alliance or Guild, or one who you are likely to know, such as the leader of your own guild, if it is particularly large, simply another member of the guild, or another player with whom the spoofer might have observed you interacting at some other time. There are many scams in the lists below that are expedited by the victim believing that the other party is somebody known to him/her. Therefore, always check against the names you know, such as by running a search in The Fellow Pages to find the correct Screen Name of the person who you think is speaking with you, and then PM him/her. If that individual is offline, likely the person with whom you are speaking is lying. Further, if the potential spoofer provides an excuse, such as that he/she has been locked out of that account, use some other verification method, such as information only the two of you would know if you are acquainted, or by contacting a trusted third party, such as a SiC from the person's guild, who could verify the authenticity of the speaker. However, in general, just end such conversations by stating that you are not sure of the person's identity, and would he/she please contact you in another way or at another time. Scammer: In-game Methods The following are tricks used by scammers to receive items or Kamas within the game itself. The various methods utilized outside of the game are listed in the next section. In general, use caution whenever you exchange items or game money with any other players. Exchanges :Assuming two players have agreed on the terms of an exchange, the next step is to make the trade. This involves both parties placing the items and/or Kamas into their respective portions of the Exchange Interface. Once both sides have done this, they must both click on the "Confirm" button, which cannot be done immediately after adding or withdrawing anything because there is a slight automatic delay. After one player has approved the transaction, his/her side of the interface gains a yellow highlight. After this, the second party may click his/her "Confirm" button to finalize the deal. :If either side alters the quantity of items or number of Kamas during the process, his/her side gains a flashing red highlight as warning to the other player that something has changed, which resets the time delay and shows the second party that something is wrong. Logically, this warning mechanism should inform players that they need to cancel the transaction, or at least review the trade again. :However, as players can be inattentive, rushed or pressured, they may click multiple times on the "Confirm" button in succession, especially if they are used to making exchanges among their own personal accounts. Their haste results in the most common type of scam, and one in which Ankama will not interfere. Their argument is that they have provided a secure interface (one that was not always so good, and resulted in quite a bit of fraud in the past), so players need to be cautious and willing to click the "Cancel" button if they feel uncomfortable with a trade. The ease of this scam, and the lack of recourse for the victim makes this the trick of choice for most scammers, who often remove a "0" from the Kama section, or quickly double-click on an item to remove it from the trade. :Please visit the "External Links" section below in order to see actual video of this scam. :Tip! Once you have confirmed that the trade information in the interface is correct, click "Confirm" only once, and then wait for the other player to make his/her confirmation. If you see the other party's side blink red, cancel the trade. Borrowing :The second most common scam is to borrow items or Kamas, usually initiated by an acquaintance (many scammers make idle talk, such as when Zaap Sitting, and then ask to be added to another player's Friend List), an Alliance member, or even a fellow Guildie (especially in large, rather anonymous Guilds). Even long-term friends may not be trustworthy, as their account may have been compromised, so be sure to ask a personal question to which only that person would know the answer before loaning any items or Kamas to him/her. :The scam typically works by the scammer PMing the victim, in the case of a "friend", or by posting a message in Alliance or Guild Chat, asking to borrow some item, such as a piece of gear needed for a quest or access to a certain area, or even directly requesting Kamas in order to Subscribe or make a time-limited purchase. :Such scammers seem reasonable in their requests, and often act quite friendly. They may even add a little pressure, especially when arguing that they only need the item for a short period, such as Idols for a Dungeon or Exploration equipment for a quick trip to the Depths of Sufokia. Some scammers may even ask for Kamas, such as during a KOTH battle, and say that they could really help, but they are "unsubbed", so could somebody loan them a million ("1mk") to "sub", and they will pay them back in a day or so (when Ankama's infamously fickle payment system is working). These requests seem wholly reasonable, but unless you are truly sure about the other player, you take a risk when loaning him/her anything. Sometimes, the borrower may even have the intention of returning an item, but loans it to another person, who in turn... and so forth... until the item is completely lost. :Tip! Only ever loan items or Kamas to your closest friends, those whom you have known for at least a year and with whom you have considerable active gameplay. If you are not sure about the person, you can ask him/her to temporarily exchange the value of the item in Kamas or other items, which you will give back to him/her upon return of your item. Promise to Pay In line with borrowing is the promise to pay later for some item given immediately (aka the Wimpy Scam). Whereas such an arrangement might be perfectly fine for players who have a long-term relationship, and who have established trust in a variety of exchanges, doing the same for a stranger, or even a casual friend, opens the door to being scammed. In addition to the possibility of losing whatever items are given initially, a scammer might break down another person's resistance by paying after a transaction or two, usually for minor items, such as basic Resources, and then lulled into a sense of comfort, the seller hands over an expensive item, like Equipment. However the scammer runs the con, the seller takes all the risk. :Tip! Ask a buyer who wants to pay later to temporarily exchange the value of the item in other items of equal (or slightly greater) worth, which you will promise to return upon payment of the outstanding balance of Kamas. Shared Accounts Ankama places the following message in the Chat Window every time a player logs in: :Remember that it is strictly forbidden to disclose your account name or password. Despite this, some people are lax concerning the security of their account information, and many of them pay a price for that. Those who wish to share their accounts, providing they can get past Ankama's own security precautions, especially with regards to Ankama Authenticator and Ankama Shield (see below) if they have those features installed, should be extremely cautious as to with whom they choose to do so. Such trust must only be given to those individuals, preferably only one trusted partner though, whom the player knows in real life, or, failing that, with whom the player has had a long and trusting in-game relationship. Even in the best of circumstances, disagreements might occur, resulting in one party betraying the relationship, or a partner may even just do something incautious that results in both people's accounts being stolen. Truthfully, shared accounts can be quite beneficial to players who have a long-term friendship. The system allows them to use more accounts in Dungeons and Quests, or even when just fighting Mobs of Monsters, than they would normally be able to afford, providing that their computers are powerful enough to Multiaccount several Instances of the game. In effect, if both partners (truly more than two creates the conditions for disaster) are active in their gameplay at different times, the accounts can be used almost constantly. However, this is done at your own risk!, because Ankama will not help you if your partner betrays you. :Tip! If you choose to share accounts, only do so between two players who have a close relationship, particularly one that has involved face-to-face contact, but, failing that, an in-game friendship that has lasted at least a year and has involved a lot of gameplay activity. As well, set clear boundaries as to what items and gear can be shared, and what is absolutely the property of the account owner. Guild Abuses Guilds are an essential part of Dofus, as they provide players with support, assistance and camaraderie. Often, members of guilds become close friends, both within the game and outside of it. This can be true for fellow Alliance members as well, but happens less often. The reason why many players are guild-centered is the almost constant presence of one's Guildies, who may even have been the first people with whom a new player socialized at the beginning of his/her Dofus career. As well, given the multilingual nature of this game, many guilds are centered around a specific language and/or geographical region. The last may mean that one's guild might be the only people with whom a player is able to casually communicate. The issues explored in this section are not all actual scams, but instead may be best considered unsavory practices. There are a few ways that trusting guild members can be scammed, or, more properly for this section, tricked or used. The first is an unscrupulous Guild Leader who demands a high XP Contribution from members, especially new ones, thus retarding their progress through the levels. This may be done in expectation that, as in almost all games, most new players, known as "noobs" start playing each new game with a lot of intensity, but later decide that the game is not of their taste, and therefore quit. This means that such a leader may effectively trick these new people into Muling XP for the guild. Further, some leaders also require that members contribute Resources and/or Kamas for the purchase or crafting of Alliance Prisms or even guild-owned Perceptors, (aka "percs"), which may be a perfectly agreeable arrangement, mainly for serious long-term players, but not necessarily one that new players or those who are not interested in AvA would choose to be part. Another contentious issue has been the ownership of Paddocks, which can only be purchased or sold by the Guild Leader. Over the years, innumerable players have complained to Ankama about this system. In turn, the games publisher has ignored them all. This arrangement can lead to abuse when excited new Breeders hand over game money to their leader, who then makes the purchase of new paddocks, yet after some time the actual payer grows bored with the tediousness of the Mount breeding system, and so wants his/her Kamas returned. To this, the leader answers in the negative, and so the person who actually laid out the cost of the paddock is out of luck. A less sinister version of this occurs when a leader becomes Inactive without appointing more Second in Commands (aka "SiCs"), or they too might become inactive. Over time the guild itself falls apart, and the paddocks become irretrievable. This is why most serious breeders choose to establish a secondary guild for the sole purchase of holding their paddocks and breeding mounts, despite the time and expense involved. Guild Houses act like advertisements for a guild when recruiting new members (or show pieces for those exclusive guilds of older players), especially those in key locations such as by the Astrub or Amakna Castle Zaaps. However, they are another potential avenue for abuse among Guild members, primarily because there is no limit to the number of times that anybody may attempt to enter Codes in order to open House Chests. The same is true for the doors of Houses in general, but a player making hundreds of tries to open a house might be noticed by passersby, and thus reported. Once inside the house, unless the owner or another guild member visits, a scammer could attempt to enter codes till he/she finds the correct one, even using a Bot to do so. Ankama probably refuses to change this system because it wants players to use their in-game Bank Accounts, which are fully safe (unless the account has been compromised) and act as a Kama Sink. Ironically, the best way to protect a house from improper entry is to make it a guild house, with entry wholly limited to guild members, as after that only they are able to enter it. However, this then creates the above-mentioned risk, which could be offset by forcing guild members to know the entry code to the house, and by blocking the option to Teleport (aka "tp") into it, yet this makes the house owner look selfish and showy if the guild is large and open. Further, allowing guild members to open chests without a code is also possible, but should be reserved only for very small guilds with people who are well acquainted with each other and their boundaries; or, perhaps one empty chest, with a shared code, may be left in an enormous house with crafting equipment for a Profession, which members could use temporarily. Basically, house chests are fraught with the potential for abuse, so unless you are in a tight guild, you should probably not share your house with others. Finally, there is the issue of Guild Rights, which are sought for and used by scammers to steal Modules (ironically technically called "Prisms"), such as Teleportation Modules (aka "tp mods") and Recyclers, from Alliance Prisms. Of course, Sabotage of prisms is part of the game, and if the alliance whose prism has been weakened loses in KOTH, it forfeits any units that had been placed in the prism before the act of sabotage, as they are destroyed upon upon defeat. Many of these modules require relatively expensive Resources, and so cost a lot of Kamas. This is why some scammers request guild membership, and then ask to be made a SiC, or simply be given the right to "Place or change an alliance prism." They may say that they have many materials to recycle, and note how beneficial it would be to the Alliance. When told that there are already such modules in place at a few locations, they state that they would receive more Nuggets from other territories. Then, when told that the leader or SiC would be happy to temporarily locate a module there, they say that they need to use a variety of areas. So, the arguing continues, with one excuse after another. In short, this person is a scammer, so he/she needs to be removed from the guild, and the person's Screen Name and Character Name should be reported to the other alliance leaders, usually through the alliance's Discord channel. :Tip! If the relationship among guild members or potential members feels wrong, whether you suspect you are being scammed or not, end the connection. Game time is limited, and is not worth spending with people who you do not trust or like. Scammer: External Methods The following are tricks used by scammers to collect information about your Dofus account, bank/credit card details, and general personal information for use outside of the game. The various methods utilized within the game are listed in the above section. In general, never ever give your account details, financial information, or personal info to anybody. Phishing Sites Kama Purchases Account Selling Account Protection The following are methods used to protect yourself from being scammed, and include the application of general logic in choosing one's actions, as well as tools available from Ankama to help secure yourself. Further, there is some advice on how to regain control of your account if you are unlucky enough to lose it to a scammer. Basic Caution Paranoid Caution Ankama Authenticator Ankama Shield Gallery | | | | External Links ;Imps Village Scammer Registry ;Similar Page to This One for Dofus Touch ;Video of an Actual Exchange Scam ;Video of an Second Actual Exchange Scam ;Video of a Third Actual Exchange Scam with a Twist Note: There are more videos available on YouTube, as well as page after page of complaints and reports on various sites. The lesson: Be very careful!